From the Journal of Aframos Longjourney, Pilgrim

With notes by Avos Torr, Scholar of Rheve Library

Erevday, Seventeenth Cycle, Seventh Year, 81st Turn

Thirty-Second Day in the Trees

We had an uneventful day today. We did come across some unusual tracks. They were of the hooves of a goat and the pads of a dog. At first, we believed them to be from two separate animals, but they followed each other so closely, we gradually realized that they were from the same animal, being the front and hind legs respectively1. They were very fresh, but they left the path before we could see the animal that made them.

I looked through the book today. I looked on every page, but none of what I had been able to read before was legible. Not the wombats, not the rebellion, not even the picture of the two mice. There was, in fact, only one entry even slightly legible. It appeared that the book had decided it was a book of recipes today, though very strange recipes.

It seemed to be a recipe for the cooking of names. It might be that the author meant some other sort of food that is simply called a name, but I am not sure. The other ingredients are equally unusual, including with beans and onions the laughter of stones, the smile of a gorgon and the heart of a matter. The instructions call for a cauldron made of wishes and a fire fueled by envy. The ingredients are supposed to boil until freezing. The recipe serves seven.

We are either dealing with very dark magic or a very strange mind.

Footnotes

1. Very possibly a specimen of Riddlen's Lesser Chimera, a creature that combines the more salient features of a dog, a goat, and a newt. Less well-known than their larger cousins, as they are rarely able to terrorize so much as a single farmstead, let alone entire kingdoms.